updated 08:40 am EDT, Mon April 9, 2012

Nokia Lumia 900 launch marred by data bug

Nokia's Lumia 900 launch has been partly soured by a bug encountered by early adopters. Both an AT&T source for Phone Arena, as well as buyers on Nokia's forums and those at WPCentral, have complained of the Windows Phone losing all data connections if the cellular link is restarted at any point. The problem incldues anything as innocuous as airplane mode.

It's possible to temporarily fix the problem by booting the phone without a SIM, shutting down, and then putting in the SIM again, but the issue eventually reoccurs.

While not publicly confirmed by AT&T, a tip suggested that the IMEIs, or unique phone identifiers, weren't registering properly on the data network. AT&T was supposedly aware and taking defective devices from shelves.

It's unclear how widespread the problem might be. Most such problems only affect a small if significant portion of users, which could leave most phones untouched. If consistent, however, it could damage what was supposed to be both Microsoft's largest ever Windows Phone launch and Nokia's return to the US.